Simple, Sensible and Effective Diets

Family and diets

The other day, my friend told me that family members can unknowingly sabotage a person’s diet efforts. She said that they were always well meaning and they thought that they were being kind. They were indeed being, kind but it didn’t help her diet. She told me that certain family members

Cooked her meals without asking her if she was hungry.

Gave her treats like cake and other desserts without remembering that she was on a diet.

Cooked food that was great, but was not compatible with her diet.

Ate snacks in front of her.

My friend said that she knows that the family members were doing these things from love and kindness and this placed her in a dilemma, she didn’t want to offend anyone by refusing the foods that were offered but she didn’t want to break her diet. She said that this was a lose/lose situation for her, whatever she chose do do would make her feel bad. If she refused the food, especially when someone cooked for her, she was left feeling ungrateful and didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. If she accepted the food, she felt like she had failed in her resolve to stay on the diet.

One solution that my friend came up with for this problem is to make sure that all family members know that she is starting her diet on a certain date and to tell them that she will need them to help her to succeed. When the family members ask her how they can help, she tells them don’t cook for her without asking first, don’t buy treats for her or offer her and try not to put their treats on display. My friend said that she recognises that the other family members need to eat and she ignores the fact that they eat snacks in front of her, but it isn’t always easy. My friend said that this conversation usually works well with most family members, but is not well received by senior citizens in the family.

She said that she was very lucky to have a husband that will either prepare his own food and is also willing to eat food from her diet menu when she is following the diet.

This type of sabotage is not really considered, but it is real. If you have a family member who is following a strict diet, you can help them succeed by considering all of the above information. A successful diet plan normally entails a whole lifestyle change, and for this to be successful, it would be helpful for all members of the family to participate to some extent. It won’t do anyone any harm, and may also help other family members to live a more healthy life.